The former Chairman of Seplat Energy Plc, Ambrose Orjiako, on Friday, denied any wrongdoing to the company, following various allegations levelled against him by the oil firm.

On Thursday, The PUNCN reported that Seplat filed a writ of summons before the Federal High Court in Abuja, suing the ex-chairman for damages amounting to N5bn.

The writ, with Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/386/2023, was filed before the court on March 21, 2023, and the court ordered the defendant to appear before it within 30 days.

In the suit, Seplat asked the court to declare the use of its official letterhead by Orjiako to make an offer in the sum of $300m, without recourse to the Board, a clear breach of the terms of their subsisting consulting agreement and a breach of the Companies and Allied Matter Act, 2020, among other issues.

But on Friday, Orjiako denied any wrongdoing in the letter he initiated to the Federal Government to facilitate the consummation of the lingering $1.3bn Mobil sales deal.

Orjiako said he acted within the scope of his mandate for the benefit of the company, stressing that the energy firm was already benefitting from the values created by the letter to the presidency.

He made the clarification in a statement by his legal adviser, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah.

 Orjiako also said he had instructed his lawyers to take the necessary legal steps, including seeking appropriate damages from those behind what he described as a “mischief.”

The statement read in part, “The attention of Dr Ambrose Orjiako, the pioneer Chairman of Seplat Energy Plc, has been drawn to the various malicious  newspaper publications, the last being of the so called law suit filed by some persons claiming to be acting in  the interest of the  company.

“He had hitherto refrained from joining them in the unfortunate affray. It has, however, become necessary to let the public be aware of the mischief of these individuals who have masked their personal interest over that of the wellbeing of Seplat, a company that has earned a notable repute.

“Orjiako, the co-founder of Seplat, under the written authorisation of the Board of Directors of Seplat, had the mandate to manage certain specific stakeholders of the company in respect of  the transaction which necessitated the subject communication.”

He argued that the letter referenced in the publications was written following appropriate discussions and was strictly for and in the best interest of SEPLAT.

“Also, the authorisation in the said letter expressly identifies Orjiako as the pioneer chairman,” the statement added.

It said the public should therefore not lay any credence on to law suit and the sensational publications the suit was filed to achieve.

Central Bank of Nigeria has directed all commercial banks to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays, as part of a coordinated effort to ease circulation of banknotes of various denominations.

The apex bank also confirmed the evacuation of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country.

This latest development was disclosed in a statement signed by CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isa AbdulMumin, in Abuja, on Friday afternoon.

The statement noted that, a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by commercial banks, for onward circulation to their respective customers, even as it prevailed on banks, to conduct physical operations in banking halls through the weekends.

Excerpts of the statement read: “The CBN has directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines, as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.

“Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs.

“The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, would personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by the banks in various locations across the country,” it stressed.

The bank, therefore, urged Nigerians to be patient, as the current situation would ease soon, with the injection of more banknotes into circulation.

The PUNCH reports that authorities have stepped up efforts to end the biting currency scarcity that has inflicted pain on millions of bank customers nationwide, after a Supreme Court ruling, and a proposed protest by Nigeria Labour Congress, scheduled for next week.

GAC Motor is set to take over the new vehicle assembly responsibility from its licensed importer in Nigeria, Choice International Group (CIG Motors) with the opening of a new G-Style Showroom in Abuja recently.

According to a statement by the company, CIG facilitated a joint venture between the Governor of Lagos State for the use of 1000 GAC Motors (GS3 SUV & GA4) to create an iconic urban public travel project known as LAGRIDE. “This project has changed the overall appearance of the public transportation system in Lagos State, it has also created more local jobs which has provided Nigerian youths with more dignified and rewarding ways of earning a living, including local third-party service suppliers.

“Nigeria is an important market for our Africa expansion plans, especially in West Africa, where we have identified opportunities of developing a collaborative automotive industry hub amongst the countries in the region. The hub concept will ensure that each country with an automotive development policy or economic interest in the automotive industry has an important role to play in the supply value chain. We have also recorded the following milestones; Installation and operation of a state-of-the-art automobile assembly facility in Nigeria;  Installation and operation of an integrated industrial and domestic home appliances manufacturing facility in Nigeria; Facilitated the successful operation of the first World Class Private Taxi Project “LAGRIDE” a Joint Venture Partnership with the Lagos State Government.” 

According to Diana Chen, “GAC is fully committed to supporting creative artistry culture and its industrial transformation agenda despite the current economic challenges facing the country. We are here for the long haul. Our company believes in long term investments which are nurtured through mutual relationships with like-minded partners. Nigeria’s commitment to the development of its automotive industry is evident in the GADP, which is still the blueprint automotive policy in the region in terms of creating an enabling environment for the establishment of an automotive industry in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

Following the debut of the first-ever GAC G-Style showroom in Lagos, Nigeria, the launch of the second G-Style showroom in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja represents yet another significant turning point in the development and extension of the GAC network across Nigeria.

GAC has a presence in 17 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa where it sells passenger and commercial vehicles through licensed importers.

“As the frontier for the Fortune Global 500 Company of the automotive industry, Africa has become very important for the sustainability of GAC Motors. We are therefore accelerating our growth strategy on the continent by playing a pioneering and leading role in the development of the automotive industry.”